- A Waiheke estate that featured on TVNZ’s Coastal Wonders is seeking a new owner.
- Mary and Dean Gordon created the villa after buying its waterfront site for $2.65m.
- Host Tom Webster warmed to the property’s garden and wine cellar.
The latest New Zealand star of TVNZ’s Coastal Wonders is looking for a new owner.
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Grand Designs NZ host Tom Webster explored Mary and Dean Gordon’s estate on Waiheke Island – one of the island’s most expensive – for his latest TV vehicle on Sunday.
He was delighted by the couple’s attempts to bring the Mediterranean down under, with his brain lighting up as he toured the garden, main bedroom and wine cellar.
“This may not be progressive architecture, but there is a popularity to a traditionally styled European home outside the Mediterranean. Perhaps it’s a desire to tap into agelessness, old-world charm – a proven comfort,” Webster said.
The Gordons told Webster that they had designed the villa themselves. “We managed to navigate our way through, and we’re still together, and still really happy.”
The three-bedroom main residence at 211 Te Whau Drive has a Mediterranean vibe with panoramic views. Photo / Supplied
The vendors were heavily influenced by their love of Europe and Turkey. Photo / Supplied
The primary suite has French doors opening out to the formal garden and fountain. Photo / Supplied
The couple have been trying to sell 211 Te Whau Drive for over a year, relisting it with Bayleys agents Mark Spitz and Jacob Lillyman in March this year.
It is for sale by negotiation, with the listing on OneRoof noting that the vendors were motivated to sell.
When the property first hit the market in 2025, the Gordons told OneRoof that they worked tirelessly to bring their vision to life.
The couple bought the waterfront site in 2019 for $2.65m and then set about creating their dream home.
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“We came up and viewed it, and it ticked all the boxes – it’s got a beautiful, secluded beach, it’s got a vineyard and it’s got to-die-for views,” they said.
The property was just a bare piece of land when they arrived, and they worked tirelessly over the years to create their north-facing Mediterranean-style residence.
“We meticulously planned the concept a year beforehand. We went to an architect who does European homes to make sure we had the proportions right. She made a few tweaks here and there, then it was good to go.”
Crafted from solid in-situ poured concrete, the three-bedroom main home boasts traditional plastered white sand and marble dust walls, double-glazed steel joinery, custom-milled wood beams and travertine and reclaimed oak floors.
The bathroom is simply stunning. Photo / Supplied
The house sits on more than 3ha and boasts landscaped grounds. Photo / Supplied
The rustic aesthetic extends to the cellar and the staircase leading to it. Photo / Supplied
“We wanted to build a home that is really easy to live in. I didn’t want it to be like a show home. We’ve got dogs and have visitors come and stay – it had to feel like a home, that’s really important.”
211 Te Whau Drive is not the only Waiheke home Webster has been through that has ended up on the market. Earlier this year, a stunning beach home that opened last year’s Grand Designs New Zealand was listed for sale.
Dale and Maria Gray’s four-bedroom architectural wonder on Tiri View Road, in Palm Beach, won praise from Webster when he saw the finished results.
The couple had tried to sell the home in an unfinished state in February 2024 with an asking price of $8.75m but didn’t get a buyer at that level.
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty listing agents Chris Jones and Francine Sweet took on the listing at the end of April and billed the home as a “first-class ticket”.
A home on Tiri View Road, in Palm Beach, was listed for sale earlier this year after appearing on Grand Designs New Zealand. Photo / Supplied
Tiri View Road owners Dale and Maria Gray with Grand Designs New Zealand host Tom Webster. Photo / Supplied
The property was withdrawn from the market in June, a week after the tender closed. It’s unclear whether the Grays secured a buyer, as they did not respond to OneRoof’s questions about the listing’s change in status.
High-end buyers do have a clutch of homes to choose from on Waiheke, some of which have been on the market for over a year.
At the southeastern end of the island is a seven-bedroom house on Orapiu Road, Omaru Bay, which is aiming to match the $17.5m the vendors paid in December 2022.
The waterfront property - which was immaculately renovated by architects Sumich Chaplin and sits on 5ha - is off-limits to foreign buyers with the "golden" investor visa, unless they get approval from the Overseas Investment Office or possess New Zealand residency.
On Ōakura Bay, on the south of the island, Caleb Paterson of Harcourts Cooper & Co is selling a multi-million-dollar lodge right on the water at 40 Rothschild Terrace. The villa, which sits on a nearly 5ha estate and has access to two private islands, has an RV of $6.4m, but when it went on the market at the end of last year, Paterson said the property would be one of the island's premium sales.
Spitz is also selling a 50ha vineyard at 88A Onetangi Road, Onetangi, which he describes as "likely the last remaining large-scale landholding".
With an asking price of just under $14m, the coastal property has breathtaking 360-degree views and some of the island's classiest vineyards as neighbours: Stonyridge, Te Motu and Tantalus Estate.
In town, Kellands agents Martin Dobson and Charles Collins have a luxurious three-bedroom place on
Onetangi's water's edge at 159 The Strand with an RV of $10.4m, while up at 82 Delamore Drive, Andrew and Graham Wall from Wall Real Estate have a spectacular five-bedroom Fearon Hay masterpiece on a nearly 6ha bush estate.
- Click here to find more properties for sale on Waiheke Island
